• by Shani Reardon , July 3, 2007

According to a  previous Performance Insider column,  "We already know that online lead generation is one of the fastest growing advertising vehicles today."  Well, now add a television and radio lead generation component to that, and we see that pay-for-performance lead generation, as a whole, is the fastest growing advertising vehicle today. 

Television cost per acquisition, also referred to as PI (per inquiry) media, has been available for over 20 years.  The inability to track and account for the leads from media providers is the primary reason that this advertising channel has grown at a snail's pace compared to online lead generation.  In the last five years, however, television and radio Pl providers have finally cracked the code in tracking leads to individual stations and advertisers are now accountable to the providers for all results generated.  The ability to track all of these components can be directly attributed to the expansion and success of online lead generation.  With the growth and consistency of television and radio lead generation, it is now time to introduce advertisers to a complete media lead generation solution -- online and offline.

When an advertiser chooses to embark on a lead generation campaign, it is generally quicker and less expensive to utilize an online strategy.  The creative assets are relatively inexpensive, you can test multiple offers and payouts, and you can move quickly to optimize plans.  Looking at the big picture, however, implementing an online and offline lead generation campaign will provide depth in the media mix and can drive awareness, volume and varying lead quality.  Using a mass media outlet such as television, an advertiser will see a lift in lead generation across all media channels, including online. 

In order to create a successfully integrated offline and online lead generation campaign, advertisers must utilize online learning, especially about offer performance, as this will limit the expense of implementing a television campaign.  Unless the television infrastructure is already in place -- commercials, telemarketing, etc. -- an advertiser would have to develop these assets in order to go live.  The main reason to utilize the online learning about offer performance is that if an offer does not perform in the television or radio PI space, it is almost impossible to get the stations to take the commercial again without changing the payout. In order to integrate an offline campaign with an online campaign, a few simple items need to be accomplished:

1. Consistent offer between online and offline.
2. Consistent look and feel of the creative assets.
3. Higher payout to the stations on the television lead generation campaign -- because television PI traditionally converts at a higher percent than online lead generation.

The benefit to integrating an offline and online lead generation campaign is, in most cases, quite simple: online will drive volume while offline will drive awareness and quality.  Most important, you are only paying based on performance for all channels; this makes the payoff well worth the investment.

On one last note, to mention Google for a second (because who isn't mentioning Google?): We should applaud the company for bringing to the forefront something we all have read about in separate circles: online and offline media channels.  Google has managed to shine a light on the fact that advertisers can and should be looking at all media as a source of lead generation.